Could this be the recipe for deflating the muffin top? It’s important to note that the exercises you choose and the effort you put into them really matter. Instead of treadmill-trotting and sit-ups, I recommend high-intensity workouts.
If winter weather has turned your six-pack into a muffin top, now’s the time to start shedding that bulge for spring. This workout combines some of the most effective moves you can do to work deep into your core waistline muscles to develop strong, flat, and pulled-in abs that look great both in and out of your clothes.
Combine it with an all-over strength and cardio routine, and you’ll be zipping up those jeans with ease in no time. We have put together this hard-core high-intensity workout.
The Circuit:
- You will need 2 small towels and 2 dumbbells (3–5 pounds).
- Perform the exercises in the following order, one after another, without pausing in between.
- When you’ve completed all 6 exercises, rest for 90 seconds.
- Do the entire circuit 1–3 times.
Dumbbell Squat to Shoulder-Press Rotation:
This full-body calorie-burning move works not just the abs and obliques but also the glutes, hips and shoulders.
How to:
- With dumbbells at your side, bend into a squat, pushing your hips backward as if you were sitting in a chair.
- Keep your back straight and your abs engaged.
- As you raise your hips to come to standing, press the dumbbells over your head, rotating the torso toward the right, using the side of your abdominals.
- This should be one fluid movement.
- Lower the dumbbells and bend into a squat again. Repeat the shoulder press to the left side.
- Alternate sides for 12 total reps.
Towel Leg-Ins:
Compared with crunches and bent-knee sit-ups, non-traditional ab moves like these do a significantly better job. Do this move on a smooth surface, like a wooden or tile floor (not a rug, where the towels won’t slide).
How to:
- Start in a high plank position with your palms on the ground underneath your shoulders, arms straight, core engaged, with a small towel under the toes of each foot. (If you have an exercise ball, you can use that instead of the towels.)
- Use your abdominals to bring both knees in toward your chest.
- You should be in a crouch position with your knees between your elbows.
- Hold for 1 count. Push from your abdominals to slide the towels under your feet back to starting plank position.
- Do 12 reps.
Lunge to Overhead Press:
This may not look like an ab move, but it will really feel like one—the abdominals will be working overtime to stabilise the body, especially as you press the weights overhead.
How to:
- Hold the dumbbells at shoulder height.
- Start in a lunge position, with your right knee bent 90 degrees in front of you (be careful not to let the knee bend over your toes) and the left knee slightly bent behind you.
- Imagine a string pulling up from the top of your head, keeping the neck and back long.
- As you straighten both legs to come to standing, engage the abs and press the dumbbells up over your head.
- Bend the knees to come back to the lunge and lower the weights to shoulder level.
- Do 6 reps, then switch legs. (To make this move harder, walk forward while doing the lunges.)
Towel One-Arm Rollout:
This works the very deep abdominal muscles and conditions you to keep your abs tucked in (which creates a flatter profile).
How to:
- Start in a high plank position (arms straight, core engaged) with a small towel under each hand.
- Try not to hunch your shoulders up to your ears.
- With your hands on the towels and keeping both arms straight, slide your right arm forward as far as you can without moving the hips or torso.
- Bring the right arm back to starting position.
- Repeat with the left arm.
- Alternate arms for 12 total reps.
Unilateral Dumbbell Dead-Lift:
The deadlift was the clear winner because it activates the trunk 60 percent more than the other exercises. Here’s an ab-tacular version of the classic weight move.
How to:
- Stand with your feet together.
- Hold one dumbbell in your right hand and let it hang at your side.
- Keeping the core pulled tight, lean forward, lifting your right leg (same side of the body that’s holding the weight) and lower the dumbbell toward the ground.
- Bring the dumbbell down as low as you can while concentrating on keeping your back straight, core engaged, chest up and neck aligned with the spine.
- Keep the arm holding the dumbbell close to your body to avoid unnecessary pressure on the back.
- Hold for 1 count.
- Tighten your core even more, lower the right leg, and return to standing tall.
- Do 6 reps, then hold the dumbbell in your left hand and repeat with your left leg, for a total of 12 reps.
Towel Mountain Climbers:
The most common mistake people make with mountain climbers is to roll up their whole body, meaning they lift their hips and throw their weight forward on to their arms. They really feel it in their shoulders, when the abs should be doing all the work. Putting towels under your feet, as in this move, will isolate the ab muscles and keep your back flat to help you maintain proper form.
How to:
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